Alright, I've got good news, and... uh, bizarre news?
Good news is, I bought my very first Dragon! Since Series 5 is the only one that most places around me carry, including grocery store Safeway (home of the Ghoul!), I went with the coolest but most standard in the bunch, Trylobite. Couldn't help but want it, with a prehistoric-inspired name like that. He's quite surprisingly cool although not as polished as my Ghoul, but a step up in many ways compared to Tech. And I've definitely been underestimating the entertainment value of the plasma placenta-stuff. I wouldn't go completist for these, but I'll definitely be eying that tentacled dragon next.
And for the bizarre news... Mega Bloks, a company known for knocking off the ideas of other toy companies, particularly Lego, has been bootlegged! I work at a gas station, and just today noticed that they carry cheap-o bootleg versions of Plasma Dragons! Being the guinea pig that I am, I bought one for your reading pleasure. There's several differences between Dragons and these so-called "Legendary Dragons":
1. The packaging - there's none! They're sold with only the eggs, in a display case of twelve. The egg molds, made of a transparent plastic but without the black specks at the top, no longer have the prongs to lock together and is held in place by tape, a UPC sticker, and a third sticker depicting the dragon inside. Quite crummy that these stickers hold together well, because it means tape goo is stuck on the egg.
2. The plasma - there's none! The dragon, mostly assembled, is only contained inside a sealed baggie.
3. The instructions - there's none! Not that anyone over the age of three couldn't figure these out.
4. The dragon - there's none!
![;)](http://www.littlerubberguys.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
A little repetitive humor, yes? I'd have never known if I hadn't just gotten Trylobite, but these are definitely cheaper in all ways. The body mold just happens to be identical to Trylo's, as a matter of fact, but every other part is different. If I knew or owned more, I could tell you which one this is. At least the mouth retained its joint.
The plastic used is very similar to the real deal, but just slightly more bendy than a normal one. Again, if this is actually a trait shared by the original version of this fellow, I wouldn't know. The plastic even smells the same. But it's the paint that makes this guy really stand out. It's applied even worse than on the genuine article, and uses a clashing mixture of orange claws and wings, lime yellow belly, and a blue and black camo pattern on the body, but the same blue is used as a wash on the limbs instead. I think this is what Frankenstein's Dragon might resemble, but I've seen legitimate dragon colors that are almost as bad.
All in all, the only reason to pay serious attention to these is if you want something to bulk up your dragon army even more or if you really, really, really like these dragons. A $2.99 price tag (at my store) certainly doesn't hurt either. If anyone wants these, there's a total of four different styles, and I certainly have no dying need to keep mine, so shoot me a PM. Otherwise, they make for an interesting footnote in Plasmaverse history.
EDIT: I think it's actually three styles, but you get the general idea.
Edited by Boaconda, 15 September 2008 - 04:18 PM.